Earth Day is on April 22 however taking motion for the planet shouldn’t be restricted to sooner or later. Earth911 is honoring the 52 years of Earth Day with 52 Actions for the Earth. Every week from Earth Day 2022 to Earth Day 2023, we are going to share an motion you’ll be able to take to invest in the Earth and make your personal life extra sustainable.
Plastic poses critical environmental issues, and we should always all be investing in a post-plastic world. A crucial element of this course of is breaking free of plastic pollution. This week, you’ll be able to spend money on the Earth with the straightforward step of selecting up plastic.
Plastic Air pollution
Plastic is ubiquitous in our lives – from the packaging defending our vegetables to the fleece sweatshirts on our backs – and it generates air pollution all through its lifecycle. Between 4% and 8% of worldwide oil consumption is expounded to plastics via fossil gas extraction and emissions from plastics manufacturing.
On the finish of plastic’s lifecycle (which is commonly restricted to a single use), almost none of it is recycled. When plastic is disposed of for incineration, it generates carbon dioxide, probably the most important greenhouse gas. In 2016, greater than half of the 12 million tons of carbon dioxide launched by incinerators within the U.S. got here from plastics. As a result of plastic is just not biodegradable, it stays in a landfill indefinitely. However a whole lot of plastic by no means makes it to disposal. As an alternative, it turns into litter, with 8 million tons of plastic coming into the oceans annually. There it kinds large garbage gyres and straight harms sea life. Daylight and warmth trigger it to release greenhouse gases because it breaks down into microscopic particles that enter the meals chain and bioaccumulate.
Plastic air pollution is a a lot greater downside than simply litter. However selecting up plastic litter is one method to cut back plastic air pollution.
Motion: Choose up Plastic
Cleanup Occasions
EarthDay.org’s Nice International Cleanup is a worldwide marketing campaign to take away billions of items of trash from neighborhoods, seashores, rivers, lakes, trails, and parks. This system goals to sponsor cleanups on daily basis of the yr. Go to the campaign website and scroll right down to the map to discover a cleanup occasion close to you. For those who can’t discover an occasion that works along with your schedule, EarthDay.org toolkits make it easier to set up an occasion of your personal.
Private Plogging
Plogging is the apply of selecting up litter when you run (or hike or go for a stroll). So even in the event you can’t decide to an organized cleanup occasion, this week when you’re going about your different enterprise, take the time to choose up and recycle any plastic waste you come throughout. You’ll be able to have much more impression by documenting the plastic air pollution you discover as a citizen scientist. The Ocean Cleanup desires to learn about plastic air pollution close to rivers and oceans. EarthDay.org’s Global Earth Challenge app desires to learn about plastic air pollution in all places.
